§ 1  Antiochikos
One might rightly blame both – myself, the professional man of letters, and you, who hear me; yourselves, since, though you have with the greatest pleasure seen my talent exercised on other subjects and have even called for some of them, you have never laid upon me this particular task, namely to honor the city with a discourse; and myself, because, though I have written more works than any of my contemporaries, and in praising some men and counseling others, I have engaged in not a few contests in my literary productions, I have remained silent in the face of any praise of the city that bore me.

§ 2  More properly, there is no cause to blame you for not seeking out the author of an encomium, for while it is sweet to listen to praise, it is indeed stupid to woo it. As for me, the accusation clearly finds me out, for when it was necessary to pay at once the most honorable debts of all, I delayed in the matter, and while I have in no wise ceased from speaking in the city on other subjects, I have postponed the discourse addressed to the city itself, like one who is diligent, before his mother's eyes, in caring for other people, but is neglectful of her herself.

§ 3  And indeed it is not praiseworthy for a man to confess that he possesses his skill from you, while at the same time, though he has received it thus, he will not employ it on behalf of those who have given it to him, but instead, in the gatherings in the market-place is content to show how far his writings excel others, while he will not take the trouble to make those exhibitions into a book.

§ 4  While it has been possible, in the light of such speechlessness on my part, for anyone who wishes to, to blame my silence, nevertheless there is a certain excuse for my quietude. My failure to speak was not to be interpreted as a final resolve not to speak; to speak was my dominant thought, but in the postponement there was a kind of hope that my eloquence would be greater as time added to my skill.

§ 5  My silence until the present moment has been that of a man who was fearful, rather than neglectful, and who wished to make his praises fairer, rather than to evade completely the rendering of praise. The purpose of my eloquence has been nothing more than to satisfy the audience, while I hope that pardon for not speaking previously may be obtained because of my purpose.

§ 6  It is a common custom of writers of encomia to affirm that the weakness of their talent falls short of the magnitude of the subjects toward which they direct their discourse, and to ask pardon of their listeners if, wishing to approximate the truth, they involuntarily fail to do so. I, however, believe that such pardon is due to me for every reason, while it is not due for any reason whatever to the others who have undertaken this same subject.

§ 7  For those indeed who have come here from other places there was no compulsion to write such a discourse; for, if they spoke according to the rules of the art, they would make themselves agreeable; while, if they did not do this, they would not have seemed to fail to make a necessary tribute. When a man is free either to speak or not to speak, he is worthy of praise when he achieves his purpose, but needs no pardon if he fails.

§ 8  So when a man who could avoid making his beginning in such a way as to be in need of asking indulgence, falls into this need of his own free will, it is right that he be deprived of such indulgence. In my own case, since I have been drawn to this composition by the just merits of my native city, and, since either one of two things was necessary for me, either to speak in some fashion or other out of my present resources, or to seem to be a poor citizen, how call I not win pardon from all sides?

§ 9  And if I had had sufficient means for a choregia, perhaps it would have been suitable for me to fulfill my duty in that fashion, and not to run the risk involved in writing a discourse. But since I have been prevented by Fortune from performing public liturgies in that fashion, and since it is still necessary for me to come forward and myself bring some gift to the city, my daring in preparing this discourse, in fear of the consequences of silence, will win pardon for me.

§ 10  Most of those who come to hear me, seeing the present good fortune of the city, but knowing nothing of its splendor in ancient times, will, while they admire the former, suppose that the latter did not exist; so they will think that I shall at once take up the city's present greatness, and its superiority in its present state, as though I were to admit myself that while the city in its recent history surpasses all others, in its ancient history it was itself surpassed.

§ 11  It is necessary, however, for me first to do honor to the memory of those ancient times, and then to speak of them in such fashion that there will be shown to be harmony between the present circumstances of the city and those of former times, and so that it will appear that its present circumstances are owed to the same factors through which in antiquity it was preeminent, and that its brilliance today does not depend upon less important causes.

§ 12  Before, however, I set forth who were the people who first occupied this land, I must speak of the nature of the land and what manner of breezes it possesses, how it is situated with respect to the sea, what it possesses in the way of water, what sort of land it is for the raising of crops, and in general concerning the advantages which exist here. For since the land is in fact older than its inhabitants, it is fitting for the praise of the land to come before that which will be given to the race.

§ 13  Indeed the first and greatest praise of a city is the excellence of its land, just as is the case, I believe, with a ship when the keel is strong to which all the other members are fastened. This subject, then, must be tested before the others.

§ 14  I shall not be persuaded to comply with the usage of most orators, who strain themselves to show that whatever particular place they are praising is the center of the earth. First of all, if this distinction is the property of one city, and if in addition it be a fair city of which it is the property, all this can belong to one city alone, because it is not possible for others as well to be in the middle. Thus most such orations are foolish.

§ 15  Then again, if being situated in the center of the earth brought with it superiority in all respects, the have been prevented by Fortune from performing public liturgies in that fashion, and since it is still necessary for me to come forward and myself bring some gift to the city, my daring in preparing this discourse, in fear of the consequences of silence, will win pardon for me. The eagerness of those who compete in this matter could have a certain justification. But if Egypt and rocky Delphi are not the same in respect to productiveness of crops, why should a man point to the central location of the city which he is praising instead of proving its real fairness?

§ 16  This, now, I can say concerning my native city, that it is the fairest adornment of the land that is fairest under heaven. It is generally agreed, indeed, that the best part of the earth is that which the god of the sun, on rising, first strikes with his rays.

§ 17  For kings, this part of the earth is a much-fought-for possession; and the ruler to whom it belongs is a greater man because he possesses it, while to all other men who hear its name, that name comes bringing a kind of loveliness with it and it fills their souls with pleasure, like those dreams which rejoice sleepers with their visions of gardens.

§ 18  Thus it is that, the whole East possessing the finest things, these superiorities come to us. To other people, their own land gives one thing but does not give another; or rather, by Zeus, it brings all kinds of gifts, but because of the excesses of the climate it does not escape disagreeable features, or if it avoids these it suffers from lack of water and thus spoils its good fortune in other respects.

§ 19  With us, however, all things vie with one another, the land, the streams, the temperate blending of the climate. As for the land, it is level like the sea, deep and rich and soft, yielding easily to the plow, wonderfully surpassing the expectations of its farmers, at once good for sowing and good for growing, and splendidly suited to both kinds of crops, providing tall trees in all their beauty and sheaves of grain taller than trees are in other lands, and crops in abundance, with more than an abundance of beauty.

§ 20  Nothing is absent whose presence is to be desired; but if you speak of Dionysus, his festival is often celebrated here, or if you mention Athene, the earth is blooming with her trees. Therefore, much wine goes hence to our neighbors, and even more oil is carried in freight-ships all over the world.

§ 21  And Demeter loved our land so much more than Sicily, that when Hephaestus on his shield made a golden field, she made our part of the earth, in its color, not a little like gold; and likewise her crops are such as they are nowhere else, and are truly the gift of the yellow-haired goddess.

§ 22  As for our mountains, some of them lie within our land, some round about it; some cut across the flat country, while other broad ones guard the entrance, and others still surround it along its boundaries. Some of these, in their formation, differ from the sloping ground, being raised up to a height; others vie in the excellence of their soil with the land below them, and the farmers do not hold them in scorn, for they drive their yokes over the summits; and all that the level land alone bears elsewhere, our mountains grow, while the things that the mountains alone can give elsewhere, among us are produced by the plains as well.

§ 23  One section is not distinguished for the growing of fruit trees and another for the sowing of seed; but in the same fields you can see trees rising up and wheat flourishing beneath the trees, or rather the land both produces these things separately and brings them together. This piece of land is rich in wheat, and that rich in wine, while another unites all things in itself.

§ 24  Moreover, the circumstance that the mountains do not fall short of the plains in productivity does not easily permit the country to suffer famine; for when the weather at any season is abnormal, the same damage does not occur to the two types of land. What is insufficient for the lower lands is often adequate for those which are higher, and what causes damage there, the lands below often escape, so that it is possible for most crops to grow in safety, since either the whole country is flourishing, or at least one of the two types of land.

§ 25  Such parts of the mountains as are not fertile by nature make their contributions in other ways. Some, through their quarries, furnish walls for the buildings of the city, while others through their forests furnish the roofs and assist in other ways, and in addition to this they provide fire for the bakers and the baths, by means of which we not only live, but have the means to live in comfort.

§ 26  The flocks and the herds of cattle contribute their nourishment to mankind, and no part of the land lies idle, like a part of a crippled body, but some parts of it repay labor with great generosity, while other parts bring their gifts without labor.

§ 27  And then the rivers which run through the country, who could number them, some large, some small, some flourishing at all seasons, others created by the winter, all equally useful, some flowing from the mountains, some rising in the plains, some flowing into one another, others into the lake and others still journeying to the sea?

§ 28  Then the springs and their unfailing riches are truly a unique characteristic of ours, and no man is so bold, or so proud of the gifts of the nymphs, that he would boast that he had possessions equal to ours in this respect.

§ 29  Over so fair a land as ours the Seasons dance harmoniously and do not spoil its charm by any unseemly conduct on their part. For neither does winter out of jealousy encroach upon the time of spring, claiming that season's charm for itself, nor does summer, in the same fashion, stretch out into winter, turning out the season which comes between the two; but each remains within its bounds and divides up an equal measure of the year, and gives place when the next season approaches. And the greatest thing is that those which are in their extreme forms grievous to the body, the one by reason of excess of cold, the other through excess of heat, seem among us to be chastened and to wish to resemble the milder seasons.

§ 30  It seems to me as though they had made an agreement with each other to share each other's characteristics, so that winter shows a certain element in common with summer, in its mildness and harmlessness, while summer on the other hand has received from winter enough of its character to serve as a defence against distressing heat.

§ 31  And while winter provides rain to satiety for the earth, taking away the cold, the heat makes the wheat spring up and fosters it with the summer breezes which save both our bodies and crops from damage from burning heat. Thus for us alone is it possible to enjoy whichever of the seasons is present and to receive the coming one with pleasure, since in all of them there is a certain temperateness and gracefulness.

§ 32  Among the peoples of other countries, most find fault with the whole cycle of the seasons, while others, experiencing some seasons which are better and then others which are not so good, suffer the same experience as those who change suddenly from peace to war; for when one of the better seasons has fulfilled its time and departs, the harsher one descends upon them, and, before they have had time for any real enjoyment, they have to lament the departing season, which they are unable to hold back, and at the same time live in dread of the one which is coming upon them. One of the seasons forces them to be bathed in sweat and to spend their time struggling about the springs, while the other compels them to spend their time in bed like sick folk, shut in by the snow.

§ 33  To us alone is the present part of the year pleasant and the expected season no less pleasant; for one season having given us pleasure, passes by, and the next approaches bringing equal pleasure, and we differ in no way from the folk who travel along those roads which are divided up from beginning to end by shady springs and places of rest, and send travelers on their way rejoicing.

§ 34  Just as is the case of our good fortune in the seasons, our situation with regard to the sea is such that, if our position in this respect were not as it is, I should count it a shortcoming. For neither are we separated from the sea by a journey of days, nor is our city founded directly on the shore.

§ 35  How much of a harm each of these is to a city, I shall briefly make clear. Or rather how harmful it is to be wholly separated from the sea, is plain to all, and a man who called a city thus situated one-eyed would not be mistaken; but the advantage of not being placed directly upon the sea requires demonstration.

§ 36  First, the cities which are placed down by the sea have to fear the floods which it causes, and their confidence is ruined by the example of the cities which have been overwhelmed.

§ 37  Again, those to whom it gives pleasure to be able to gaze over the backs of the sea and to watch the freight-ships sailing and to listen to the shouted commands, are given more anguish than pleasure when, before the eyes of those who were just now enjoying such pleasure, the wave driven on by the billows overwhelms the vessels and changes the sailors' calls to cries for help, and fills the city with news of the shipwreck.

§ 38  But the greatest cause of harm is that a city placed on the sea is forced to suffer from the vulgarity of sailors and their disorderly brawls and their ribald talk and from all the other things which have the power to ruin and destroy the morals of a city; for such a city will both receive those who come sailing to it from abroad, and send its own people out as sailors. And then the evil ways of only a part spreads through the whole population.

§ 39  Our own situation, however, permitting us to enjoy the good things which come from the sea, also permits us to remain free from its evils; and we are both free from harm, along with those who live inland, and enjoy the benefits of the sea along with those who live close to it.

§ 40  So we differ from the former in our abundance of the necessaries of life, and from the latter in the moderation in our way of living; and while we possess the things which are counted blessings by both, we escape the things by which both are afflicted. Thus, the others claim advantages over each other in some respects, and are outdone in other ways; but we are superior to each of them and inferior to neither.

§ 41  The distance that separates us from the sea, indeed, is just so much as keeps us untainted from the evils connected with the sea and at the same time permits us to share the good things which come from it. For there are one hundred and twenty stadia between us, so that a well-girt man, setting out hence with the sun, can bring us something from there when the noonday still remains with us.

§ 42  Concerning the nature of the land, then, and the temperate blending of the climate and the situation with respect to the sea, enough perhaps has been said. It would be well to go on concerning the noble lineage of those who possess the region, and of the first settlers and those who followed them and those again who came later, and to demonstrate to all, how the best of lands has come to be the possession of the best of men, like a well-made ship in the hands of good sailors.

§ 43  And though I may seem to speak at greater length than the occasion warrants, my discourse will include only a small part of the things concerning which it would be possible to speak. The reason for this is the multitude of the subjects which pertain to ancient times; and because of this, even though many things be passed over in silence, what is said will not fail to seem lengthy. The historical treatises will preserve exact accounts; we need speak only of so much as is fitting for the present occasion.

§ 44  Inachus was the son of Ge and the father of Io. Zeus became smitten with love for this Io, and lay with her. Since this did not escape Hera, he changed the human maiden into a cow and lay with her in this fashion. But Hera – for she knew of this too – smote the cow with a gad-fly, and she wandered through both continents.

§ 45  Inachus, seeking his daughter and unable to find her, and desiring mightily to recover her, put ships to sea, and sent aboard them the Argives who are well known in the tale, making Triptolemus the leader of the whole undertaking, and sent them forth in search of his vanished daughter.

§ 46  And they sailed every route, penetrated every strait, passed every headland, went ashore on islands, searched the shores, went up far into the midst of the mainland, being resolved to die before they gave up the search.

§ 47  As they came here to this country, and came out of their ships, it was night; and they went up to the mountain among the inhabitants, who were few in number, and approached their dwellings and knocked on the doors and made inquiry concerning Io. They found a hospitable welcome; and coming to love the country, they made this the end of their voyage, exchanging their eagerness in the search for a desire to remain. And so, giving up the purpose by which they had been urged on, they put the land which they admired above the goal for which they had set sail.

§ 48  This undertaking had been that they should not fail to find Io, but that they should put aside all thought of their native land; for it had been laid upon them, by him who sent them forth, either to bring the maiden back, or not to return themselves. Thus, when they ceased their search, they were willing to be cut off from their native land.

§ 49  If indeed they had traveled to the ends of the world, and had then decided to stay when nothing remained to be searched, the cause of their guilt would have been necessity, and not simply love of the country; since, however, they made this decision when much of the world remained in which there was some hope of making the discovery, those who put their desire to remain before their hopes really preferred this strange country to their native land. It was to such a degree as this that the land enchanted them.

§ 50  And when they had occupied the land, they were possessed by it completely, and the spell of their fatherland gave way completely before their admiration of the land which had bound them to it. I could wish that Homer, who lived after these events, had not said that nothing is sweeter to men than their fatherland, but had, because of the decision of the Argives, said the opposite, namely that often a better land, drawing men's desires to itself, drives out the remembrance of their native land.

§ 51  And so Triptolemus, who had set out in search of the Argive maiden, settled the people whom he had brought with him and built a city under the mountain and in the city a sanctuary of Zeus, whom he called Nemean; but he gave the name Ione to the city, from the daughter of Inachus. For since it was on giving up the search for her that they settled in the city, they did honor to her by choosing this name for the town. And when they worked the land and reaped its fruits, they changed the epithet of Zeus from Nemean to Epikarpios (Fruit-bringing).

§ 52  So Triptolemus, when he had laid the first foundations of the city, was removed from among men and because of the honors due him was numbered among the heroes. Then the god according to whose desire the city was created, wishing it to be increased by the finest races, moved Kasos to leave Crete, a goodly man, and brought him here, and the noblest of the Cretans followed him.

§ 53  When they came, they found the Argives better than the people they had left at home. For Minos in jealousy had driven them out; but the Argives received them gladly, and gave them a share of the city and of the land and of whatever they possessed. Kasos indeed did not wish to receive in good treatment more than he gave in good works. And seeing that many of the laws of Triptolemus had been altered, he revived them, and he founded Kasiotis.

§ 54  And as he acquired greater knowledge of affairs, he sought to win the good will of the people of Cyprus for the city, and married the daughter of Salaminus, who ruled over the people of Cyprus. As the maiden set sail, there came with her a fleet which formed an escort over the sea for the bride. And when they tasted the pleasures of our land, they gave up their island and became a part of the city.

§ 55  One could find proof of Kasos being celebrated because of his virtues in the fact that the ruler of so great an island was glad to be connected with him by marriage, and proof also of the kindness of Kasos in the circumstance that those who brought the maiden preferred his protection to their dearest kin.

§ 56  It is said also that some of the Herakleidae, after the exile to which they were driven by Eurystheus, taking with them many Eleans, after they had seen and disapproved of the whole of Europe and the remainder of Asia, put an end here to their toils and settled themselves and built Herakleia as an addition to the city.

§ 57  Let one consider our noble descent, and the way in which whatever was finest in all places has flowed together here, as though to a place chosen by the gods to receive men worthy of admiration. We alone have origins which have brought together in the same place the noble elements provided by each of our sources: the high antiquity of the Argives, the just laws of the Cretans, a royal race from Cyprus, and the line of Herakles.

§ 58  As for those whom we received from Athens, and all the other Greek breeds with which we have been blended, the tale will be told later, when our discourse in its progress has come to those times.

§ 59  Now we must tell how the place was from of old regarded with veneration by the Persian kingdom. And, by Zeus, it was not only honored by the Persian gods, but by the Assyrians before them. Once Cambyses was conducting a campaign against Egypt, and his queen Meroe was with him. They being encamped in the place to which the queen gave her name, she went to the temple of Artemis to sacrifice; for Semiramis the ruler of the Assyrians had built the temple for the goddess.

§ 60  And seeing that the roof was worn out through old age, she begged Cambyses to mend the damage. So he raised the temple to a greater height by making additions to the walls, and built round it a peribolos wall suitable for the accommodation of the festival; and to this festival he gave the name of his queen. She for her part presented lands to the goddess and established women to care for the shrine and filled it with the riches of Persia, dedicating thrones and couches and bows, all of gold.

§ 61  When these things had been accomplished, those who dwelt in Ione decided to go down to Cambyses. So when they were announced by those whose duty it was to do so, he called them to him and asked them who they were and how they had come to live in his land.

§ 62  When he learned whence they had come, and the fortunes which had brought them there, he marveled that they wished to enter into relations with him rather than lie hidden as he passed by, and he conducted himself not as one who had the right to demand thanks from those who dwelt on his land, but as one who himself was indebted to them for living there. The proof of this is that he gave them gifts as though they were benefactors and sent them away.

§ 63  Let anyone who wishes now allege the fierceness of Cambyses, and say that he was not master of himself. It appears rather from this that our forebears lived both with gods and under their protection. That a man who vented his wrath on everyone, and made cruelty a pleasure, should have overcome his nature at the sight of those men and should not have been provoked to anger against Hellenes who dwelt in the land of the Great King – how can this have failed to be the work of some god who sent these men straight to his tent and arranged both things, namely that they should have courage, and that he should not be harsh, and likewise exorcised their fear, and allayed his anger?

§ 64  And why need one speak in terms of inferences and disregard a well-known fact? The country has been from of old beloved of the gods. For the god whom the Persians hold to be the greatest, Helios, under whose auspices they conduct their campaigns – he is called Mithras in the Persian tongue – this god, when sleep had come upon Cambyses, stood above his head in a dream, during his first sleep, and spoke to him, commanding him to stop there and not to proceed to Egypt, and also foretold that the spot would receive a city, a creation of the Macedonians.

§ 65  Cambyses gave thanks to the god and nearby established a shrine of the brother of Artemis. And thus the place received the deity of the Persians as a dweller in it and a lover of it and a prophet of its coming fortune; and Cambyses, at the prophecy, suffered none of the passion which envy is wont to stir up.

§ 66  The men who glorify Athens and Corinth set up battles between the gods over the cities – over Corinth, of Helios against the ruler of the sea, and over Attica, of Athena against this same god; and they almost undo the harmony of the whole by their recklessness in writing of these battles of gods, trying to adorn the cities which they praise by means of impious ornaments, and seeking to gratify human beings by means of this impiety against the gods, not knowing that by this one lie they destroy confidence in their other praises.

§ 67  With us the gods have become lovers of our land, but there was no war among them over it, for this would not have been lawful. In this way, that which was fair among the Hellenes exists here also, but that which, among them, was better not spoken of, no one here has dared to do.

§ 68  And so the men of that time occupied Ione, the sons regularly taking it over from their fathers; and dealing justly with one another, and getting their living from the ground and paying the accustomed honors to the gods, they lived in all happiness in the midst of the barbarians, producing a city which was a true Hellas and keeping their way of life pure in the midst of so much corruption all around them, like that myth about the Alpheios which has survived to our time, which has it that the river flowed from the Peloponnese to Sicily through the midst of the sea, but yet was unmixed with the sea.

§ 69  The city indeed did not at once become large and populous – it was better, I think, this way – but its growth awaited a more favorable time; it existed in a restricted shape, remaining small, for as long as it was not better for it to be larger.

§ 70  What does this mean? If its size had extended over the greatest possible amount of land when Asia was still held by the Persians, who were strong in their wealth and stout in arms and brilliant in all things, it would have been necessary for the people of the city, when called by their rulers to take part in their campaigns, either to obey and go to war, or not to obey and fight the Persians, one city against so great an empire. The former course would not have been seemly nor the latter free from danger.

§ 71  But then, since the inhabitants had not increased contrary to what was fitting to the times, but had stood still at that point in their size which excused them from doing anything unpleasant and from suffering any evil, they advanced to their greatness, when it was time to rule, like nobly-born boys who escape notice on account of their youth under a tyranny, but reach young manhood when the tyranny has already ceased.

§ 72  For after the battle at Issus and the flight of Darius, Alexander, who possessed part of Asia, but desired the rest of it, since he thought little of what he had already won, but instead looked toward the ends of the earth, came to this region, and pitched his tent near the spring which now, through his work, has the form of a shrine, though its only adornment then was its water; and refreshing his body there after his toils he drank the cold clear sweet water of the spring.

§ 73  The sweetness of the drink reminded Alexander of his mother's breast; and he said to his companions that everything that was in his mother's breast was in the water too; and he gave his mother's name to the spring. When Darius was campaigning against the Scythians, the river Tearos in Thrace seemed to him the fairest of rivers, and setting up a stele, Darius inscribed upon it that the Tearos was the fairest among rivers; Alexander however did not put our spring into a contest with other waters, but declared it equal to the milk of Olympias. So great was the pleasure which he found in these springs.

§ 74  Wherefore he at once adorned the spot with a fountain and with such of the other appropriate details as were possible on such a campaign, which he was conducting in the swiftest possible manner; and he began to build a city, since he had found a spot which was capable of giving scope to his own magnificence.

§ 75  Possessed of a two-fold desire, both for our land, and for the possession of the remaining lands, and constrained by the one to remain, and driven by the other to hasten on, and with his soul torn between the desire to settle and the desire to carry on the war, he did not make either of these wishes an obstacle to the other; for he did not insist either upon ruining his whole purpose for the sake of the city, or upon fulfilling that purpose, and giving up the desire which he had to found the city; but maintaining both plans he gave the city its beginnings, and led his army on to Phoenicia.

§ 76  The beginnings of the settlement were Zeus Bottiaios founded by Alexander, and the citadel, which took the name of his fatherland and was called Emathia. And this I think was an indication of Alexander's purpose, namely that after the completion of his deeds he would choose this place in preference to his homeland.

§ 77  Having celebrated such beginnings for the settlement, and counting therefore among our founders, he who was both called the son of Zeus, and made this name secure by his works, was translated swiftly to his father, and could not bring his plan to completion. And he who received the power after him – or rather among many successors was the only one worthy of Alexander's rank – Seleucus came to the city in place of Alexander, having won his power by valor not only once but a second time as well.

§ 78  For indeed he came to the assistance of some, whom he made greater than their enemies; and then he was plotted against by those whom he had made strong. But being saved from the midst of this trap, he again roused admiration by giving his aid to still others. Finding these men just, he received due return from them. And this thanks was the return to him of the lands from which he had unjustly been driven out.

§ 79  For Seleucus for his courage had been made commander of cavalry by Perdiccas; and when Perdiccas died in Egypt, and he was summoned by the Macedonians to take over Perdiccas' power, he went and held the satrapy of Babylonia.

§ 80  And when Antigonus was warring against Eumenes, he joined him as an ally and assisted in the destruction of Eumenes, not knowing that Antigonus, whom he assisted, was an evil man. And then that man, when he had become great through the help of Seleucus, became jealous of his benefactor and plotted his death. From this point on, one of the gods must have held his hand over him, as in a drama; for he found the way to salvation through the same house which had plotted his destruction.

§ 81  For just as Ariadne, smitten with the beauty of Theseus, saved the youth from the labyrinth with the ball of cord, Demetrius, son of Antigonus, admiring the valor of Seleucus, gave warning of his father's plot against him with a message which he wrote in the dust with the shaft of his spear, thus revealing what was to happen, and at the same time escaping the notice of the others present.

§ 82  From this time on Seleucus suffered the same fate as Evagoras, and a little later became powerful again. For he yielded to the circumstances of the moment and went away to Egypt; and there he established Ptolemy firmly in his kingdom, not providing him with a numerous army, but only with his own body and his own spirit; and after he had made Ptolemy's affairs secure, he persuaded Ptolemy to send him home, and receiving cavalry and foot troops, both to the number of a thousand, he drove his enemies out of Babylon, and won back his kingdom and his wife and children, and his former splendor.

§ 83  And now, considering that while he had thus won back what belonged to him, justice was still due him for the treachery against him, he made war on Antigonus, and meeting him in Phrygia and conquering him, he slew him in open combat, thus exacting vengeance for the plot against himself; in this fashion he escaped the treachery like one dear to the gods, and returned vengeance for it like one who was practised in virtue.

§ 84  So when Antigonus was dead, what had belonged to the vanquished passed to the victor, and the empire of Seleucus was bounded by Babylon on one side and by the confines of Egypt on the other. And now a time of production came, like that season which of old brought forth the beginnings of our city; but this season brought forth its great size.

§ 85  And everything came to pass according to the divine will. There existed a city named for Antigonus, created by Antigonus. The distance between the present city and it was forty stadia. In this city, after his victory, Seleucus offered sacrifice; and when the bull was slain, and the altars were provided with everything according to custom, the fire seized on the offerings and burned freely.

§ 86  And Zeus dispatched from his sceptre and sent to the altar his companion the beloved bird. It flew down into the midst of the fire, and seizing the thighs, wrapped in flame, carried them away.

§ 87  And when this occurrence fixed the eye and attention of everyone, showing that what was done was not done without the gods, Seleucus put his son on his horse, to follow the flight from the earth, and to guide the horse along the route of the bird, wishing to know what the eagle would do with the things it had carried off.

§ 88  And he, riding with his gaze fixed upward, was guided to Emathia by the flight of the bird. The eagle, descending there, placed the offerings on the altar of Zeus Bottiaios, which had been founded by Alexander, when the spring refreshed him; and it seemed to all, even to those not skilled in augury, that Zeus was advising that a city be built on the place. Thus Alexander's original desire for a settlement, and his beginning of the undertaking, moved toward completion; and the chief of the gods became our founder through his prophetic sign.

§ 89  Then Seleucus collected artisans representing every skill, all sources of labor for assistance, and all the finest possible stones. Forests were cut down for roofs, and wealth was poured into the work of building.

§ 90  Outlining the city, he stationed the elephants at intervals, at the places where the towers were to be, and to mark out the length and breadth of colonnades and side streets he used, for the dividing lines, wheat which had been brought by ships which stood in the river.

§ 91  And quickly the city rose; and quickly what was built was filled with those who came down to the city from Ione, Argives and Cretans and the descendants of Herakles – who were, I believe, related to Seleucus through Temenus of old – and with the soldiers who followed Seleucus, who chose this place for their home.

§ 92  Antigonia itself he obliterated, since it was a memorial of an evil man, and he removed hither the population, among whom were Athenians. These people who were resettled were at first fearful that they might suffer the anger which had been directed against Antigonus; but when they learned that they had been brought to a better lot in life, they honored Seleucus with a bronze statue, adding bull's horns to the head, this being the mark of Io.

§ 93  From Seleucus the city took its surname, but its name from his father Antiochus, and while it was created by the former, it preserved the memory of the latter; for to the man, whom, of his family, he held the most in honor, Seleucus dedicated the most honored of his own works.

§ 94  And this suburb, Daphne, much famed in song, Seleucus elevated to the dignity of a shrine, dedicating the place to the god, since he found that the myth was true. For Apollo, when he was enamored of Daphne but could not win her, pursued her; and as she was changed by her prayer into a tree, he transformed his loved one into a crown.

§ 95  Thus was the tale sung; and the chase revealed to Seleucus the truth of the tale. For he once rode out to hunt, taking his dogs with him, and when he came to the tree which had once been a maiden, the horse stopped and smote the ground with his hoof, and the earth sent up a golden arrowhead.

§ 96  This revealed its owner by means of an inscription; for it was engraved "of Phoebus." I suppose that in his grief over the transformation of the maiden he shot all his arrows, and the tip of one, broken off, was hidden by the earth and was preserved for Seleucus, as a warning to adorn the spot and to consider it as what it actually was, a shrine of Apollo.

§ 97  There was indeed the miracle in which, they say, the spring on Helicon was produced when Pegasus struck the rock with his hoof; but this event here was the more miraculous because it is more natural for springs than for the tips of arrows to spring up from the earth.

§ 98  Seleucus however lifted the tip of the arrow and saw a serpent coming straight upon him, hissing with its head in the air. But as the serpent came on, it looked at him mildly, and vanished. When this serpent was added to the omens that appeared from the earth, his conviction grew that the god walked abroad in this place. And at once a sacred precinct was laid out and trees and a temple were provided, and the grove speedily flourished and was guarded by strong prayers [curses].

§ 99  And Daphne was everything to Seleucus. For in addition to these signs from heaven which met his eyes, there also impelled him an oracle which he had received from Miletus, as support against his adversity, from which he had drawn courage. This oracle promised him coming good fortune, and commanded him, when he won the rule over Syria, to make Daphne sacred to the god.

§ 100  Since he had thus prepared himself in respect to the things which concern the gods, and had made his beginning from the point which was proper, he started out from a foundation which offered good hope – good hope, I mean, of the favor of the gods, and good hope for our city; and he filled the finest part of the earth with cities, making the desert fair. For he did not found our city simply for purposes of enjoyment, but as a starting-point for other cities, so that instead of post-houses these cities stood at the service of travelers.

§ 101  Other kings indeed take pride in destroying existing cities, but it was this man's glory to raise cities which had not existed. He planted so many on the earth that they were enough to bear the names of the cities of Macedonia and to be named also for the members of his family; thus there are many which are named for the same person, with both men's and women's names.

§ 102  If one wished to judge him in comparison with the Athenians and the Macedonians, who are supposed to have founded the most colonies, he would prove not only to be the founder of still more, but to surpass each one of them in the size of his works to such a degree that any one of his cities was a match for ten of theirs. You may go to Phoenicia and see his cities there, and you may come here to Syria and see even more and greater ones of his.

§ 103  He extended this fair work as far as the Euphrates and the Tigris, and, surrounding Babylon with cities, he planted them everywhere, even in Persia; in a word he left bare no place that was suitable for receiving a city, but in his work of spreading Hellenic civilization he brought the barbarian world quite to an end.

§ 104  It is not, however, possible to say that, just as he founded many cities after this one of ours, so also did he place any other above this one; but he himself established his sceptre here and, so to speak, gave this city of ours a like right to rule over the others, since he built the others to be servants to this one, and found no other more worthy of the royal residence.

§ 105  And so, having both lived and died among such works, Seleucus did not hand on his inheritance to weaker men, but they were all worthy men born of worthy men, and the sons always showed themselves emulous of their fathers in all things and especially in their love for their city.

§ 106  As I enter now upon the works of these men, and gaze about, as though from a kind of observation point, on the nobility of each one, I cannot think either that silence concerning their virtues is right or that an enumeration of their virtues is possible; for the former would be the mark of a man who wished to harm both the rulers and the encomium of them, and the latter would be a greater task than could be undertaken by many mouths, or even by a whole chorus – even the greatest possible chorus – of sophists.

§ 107  What way out of such a great difficulty, then, can one find ? The following: to mention some rulers and to pass over others, or rather not to describe all their deeds, but to recount only a few of many; to make certain, concerning some of the kings, that they do not seem inferior to those who are mentioned; and to bid my hearers to test my discourse in the histories.

§ 108  Antiochus, then, the son of Seleucus, fought no war, since all his enemies cowered in fear, but it was granted to him to go on happily toward old age and hand on the realm undiminished to his son. Under his son too the weapons of war were at rest, there being no need of them; but instead there occurred a marvel of the greatest good omen for the city.

§ 109  He was in fact son-in-law of Ptolemy, the king of Egypt; and when Ptolemy came here he was smitten with the beauty of Artemis and desired that the statue should belong to his own land; and he took it and carried it off. The goddess was well cared for there, but she longed for our city, and so she visited with disease the wife of him who had carried her off, and showed her in dreams why this was being done. Then she was sent back again by those who had removed her, and recovered her old temple; but because of this episode her name was changed and she was called Eleusinia.

§ 110  Another wondrous thing occurred in the same reign which was like to this, and yet not like it. It was similar in that it concerned the gods, but differed in that it involved the coming hither of foreign gods. I shall make plain what I mean.

§ 111  In Cyprus there were gods honored who had had this dwelling allotted to them in Cyprus since the time when the land began to exist. These were seized with desire for this land of ours and were eager to migrate to it. They impelled the city [Antioch] to seek a response from the Pythian oracle, and persuaded Apollo to declare that there was only one solution for the city's difficulties, namely the migration of the gods of Cyprus to our land.

§ 112  And the king sent to the island the men through whom he hoped to accomplish this. Then, since it was not possible either to carry them off openly or to tunnel into the temples secretly, they contrived the following plan. They said that they wished to fashion exact reproductions of the gods who were there. And when this was permitted, they worked at their carving lovingly night and day, while the priests remained at ease. The craftsmen carried the imitation to such a point of exactness that they removed the originals, and set the reproductions in their place, and embarked in sight of the people of Cyprus, bearing off the originals, as though they were the new statues, and leaving, in the guise of the originals, those which had just been created by their skill.

§ 113  This success was not the result of the sculptor’s skill, but of the gods' desire for the departure, for the sake of which they gave the craftsmen's hands more than their usual power. And what indeed – be it the winning of new lands or the raising of victorious trophies, or the destruction of an army or the capture alive of the enemy – brings more glory than to have the gods decide that it pleases them to sojourn in this land?

§ 114  Indeed the incident which followed this, which occurred forthwith, in the time of the ruler who followed this one, brought proof of the same thing. Isis, the horned Egyptian deity, left Memphis and traveled hither, inciting Seleucus in dreams – the Seleucus who was fourth in succession after the first Seleucus – to send for her, and likewise moving Ptolemy to make a ready gift of the goddess; and the ships were seemly, and the statue was carried away.

§ 115  And our city was a dwelling place of the gods, so that we could, if we wished, vie even with Olympus; for the residence of the gods there is a tale of the poets, while the situation here will convince all who see it.

§ 116  And the conduct of the gods moved forward fittingly with the times, for when the power of Rome overshadowed everything, the city did not suffer from it in this respect, but they had much the same experience in connection with Zeus Kasios that Ptolemy did with Artemis; for they removed him, but he pressed them hard, loosing his thunder on everything, and procuring his return in this fashion; and he did return.

§ 117  Thus it is clear that while some of the gods wished to come to us from other lands, those who were with us could not endure to be transferred elsewhere, but since by their beauty they had drawn to themselves the love of men, they experienced toward us that which they had done to others, and though they were drawn away by their lovers, they were seized and drawn back again by the land which they loved. So great was the love of the land which possessed our own deities, and the desire which impelled foreign deities to become our own.

§ 118  I have dwelt at length on this history concerning the gods, because there is no other better subject for an encomium, either for ourselves or for any other men. If however one considers that deeds of arms are the sweetest to hear, many victories over many enemies come to our forefathers, and they went out themselves to war, as the manner of war then was.

§ 119  And of the rest of our history, what needs to be mentioned? Antiochus, who received his name of Great because he undertook great things and was equal to them, thinking it was a small thing merely to conserve what he possessed, intended to add to what already existed. This he did by building, as an addition, the newer part of the city – that which the river flows about – which was not much smaller than the old; and he brought in Hellenic stock, Aetolians and Cretans and Euboeans, and he provided complete security by means of a wall.

§ 120  And just as he increased the size of the city, so also did he stretch the boundaries of his empire to greater size, as though weaving a larger garment for a body that has grown. And having inherited such a number of subjects that he could hope to gain all his desires either by terrifying his enemies or by the law of force, he went on step by step, winning everything in his way, some of his enemies giving themselves up voluntarily, while others learned from their defeats that it was not possible to resist.

§ 121  In such fashion he advanced as far as Ionia, showing in both aspirations and deeds that he was the great Antiochus and that the glory of his name was not empty, but that he was worthy by reason of what he achieved to be called thus. From these achievements tribute kept coming to us and the city was adorned by the booty of the war – the city which cared for its subjects but defeated those who resisted it, though later it played the part of a good guardian for these latter, proving superior to the Persian dynasty in two respects, namely in its strength and in the character of its leadership.

§ 122  Another Antiochus became king, a man at once peaceful in his way of life and warlike, rejoicing in peace, if no one became bold against him, but courageous in going to war, if any one forced him to it; and neither yielding to dishonest men, for the pleasure of being quiet, nor yet scorning a quiet existence simply for the sake of being mighty in war, but knowing, if ever man did, how to take to arms, in due season, and then to lay them aside again.

§ 123  When a band of robbers had gathered in the Taurus who were plundering with impunity the property of the Cilicians, and were destroying the intercourse of men with each other, he fell upon them and made an end of them even more quickly than Minos drove the Carians from the Cyclades, and once more made it possible for the cities to communicate with one another, and by casting out the fear which hung over them he opened up the roads to the merchants. In gratitude for this he was commemorated in a statue, by those whom he had benefited, in which he was shown taming a bronze bull, the animal representing the mountain of the same name.

§ 124  Now, having a number of things to relate concerning the remaining kings, but also trying, as I mentioned, to avoid giving annoyance in the length of my narrative, I will say only this, that just as they received their names in succession from each other, so they also inherited the excellencies of their ways, some maintaining the city in peace, others making it brilliant in war; but they all took careful thought for this one thing, namely that each of them should hand on enhanced the city which he had received.

§ 125  One of them built the sanctuary of Minos, another that of Demeter, still another that of Herakles, and others still built the shrines of other gods. The theatre was built by one, the bouleuterion by another; one ruler paved the streets and others brought the gifts of the Nymphs in conduits, some rulers bringing the waters from the suburbs of the city, while others conducted them to the newer part of the city from the springs with which the older part abounds. Temple was added to temple and the greater part of the city consisted of shrines, for the palaces of the gods are one and the same thing, both an adornment of the city, and a guard over it.

§ 126  But it is easier to measure the sea in pitchers than to try to compass in words the number of additions with which each one raised the city to greater size. Wherefore, retreating from this impossible task, I shall list the surnames of each one, as an indication of the manner of his life. One was given the name of Soter, another Theos, another Callinicus, still another The Great, another Philopator, and another Epiphanes, and there was none who failed to share in the praise bestowed by such appellations.

§ 127  And if it was an honorable custom among the Athenians, that of their statesmen one should be called The Just, and another something similar, how much of an honor does not come to our city when the kings are seen to be worthy of such epithets, and not merely one or two of them, indeed, but all of them in succession, and – what is even nobler – so great a number of them?

§ 128  It is not only from our rulers that we have enjoyed the greatest benefits, but from their wives as well, who, leaving their looms, proved themselves superior to their sex as regards the city, enduring cares which belong to men, others honoring the gods by building shrines, and adorning the city by doing honor to it, as though they did not dwell with their husbands simply for the purpose of begetting children, but that they might imitate their traditional activities in labors for the city.

§ 129  So long as it seemed good to the god to rule Asia according to the will of the Macedonians, this city was like an acropolis of the dynasty for them, and they dwelt here with good fortune and adorned this city with things brought from everywhere. Then when the god set an end to their rule, and began to bind everything to the empire of the Romans as though with a golden chain, they quickly perceived the decree made in heaven and received the change without complaint. The city was handed over without a struggle to those under whose power it was necessary for it to come, even if a fight had been made for it, and thus the city insured for itself a future free of ill will and gave no occasion for animosity.

§ 130  Thus, in return for such intelligent understanding, the city enjoyed such great forethought on the part of its rulers, that it seemed that the character of the government was changed in race alone. Thus the bringing in of good things continued after the same fashion, not as though while certain men had built the city, others had taken it over, but as though the Romans were possessing what they had originally made, and were maintaining natural good will toward their own works. Thus they preserved, for the people of Antioch, the place of honor which they already possessed, and the honor which was paid to them by the people of Antioch, the Romans returned to them, and they did not deprive the city of its place as metropolis of Asia.

§ 131  For those who suppose that our city has not been held in esteem from of old, let this be enough. For those who consider that it has sunk from a brilliant position, let its present circumstances merely be pointed out – but let envy not strike my discourse. There are some cities, indeed, which like old soldiers sing of their past deeds, lamenting their present fortunes; but with us, the things which are now to be seen rival our celebrated past, and there is no need to describe the city's past glories instead of pointing out its present ones.

§ 132  Let one consider the city to see whether, like a musical composition, it is harmonious in all parts or whether, by Zeus, like some statue by one of the famous sculptors, it does not provide the necessary representation by merely a half of itself, but rather is one complete whole.

§ 133  First let us look at the senate, since the whole structure of the city is based upon this as upon a root. This one alone is the greatest of those which exist everywhere, and the best, composed of men who can reckon up their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and even beyond that, in the same rank, men who had their forebears as teachers of good will toward the city, each one of whom understood, when he took over his property, that it was necessary to hold his property for the common benefit.

§ 134  For these men inherited their ancestral property by their good fortune, and spent it freely through their generosity, and through their industry they acquired many possessions; and just as the foundations of their wealth were blameless, they used it with all magnificence for the liturgies, avoiding poverty through their prudence, taking greater pleasure in spending for the benefit of the city than others take in amassing wealth, meeting expense so lavishly that there was fear lest they be brought to indigence, and making their outlays in varied forms, sometimes supporting the populace in times of need and wiping out the failures of the soil through their gifts, and always enriching the whole city through the enjoyment of baths and the pleasure of spectacles, introducing their sons, while they themselves were still living, to the bearing of liturgies; and by their magnificent generosity turning into occasions for spending money the immunities granted to them by the laws, spending their own wealth more lavishly than men who had never yet borne a liturgy.

§ 135  For the feeling which elsewhere follows upon gain is here joined instead with spending, and a wealthy man would be more ashamed of fleeing a liturgy than he would be of diminishing his property through his liturgies. As though they had some god as a surety that whatever they lay out, double gain will come from Good Fortune, they spend lavishly on horse races and gymnastic contests, some according to their means, others more than is suitable for their means.

§ 136  The object which each of those engaged in the liturgies strives for is to surpass his predecessor and to make rivalry impossible for his successor, and to bring forth in fairer fashion the things which are customarily performed, while adding new features to those which have been traditional.

§ 137  Among us alone is there more competition over the undertaking of liturgies than there is among others in escaping them, and many men have often through expenditures sought to win their way to this honor, joining expense to expense, and making their way to the second outlay by means of the first, not purchasing, by means of small expenditures, an escape from greater ones, but by many outlays making their way to the spending of more.

§ 138  The reasons for this is a certain innate high-mindedness, by reason of which they cannot bear to have a greater report concerning other cities come to their own city than is carried abroad concerning it; for they consider their homeland to be without reproach in the respects in which it is impossible to place it in the highest position.

§ 139  So much wisdom and power of eloquence does the senate possess that you might say that it was a very band of sophists displaying their art in the prime of life. So sharp is their intellect and so rounded their speech and so sustained their discourse that many of the people who love to listen to these things gather at the law courts, as though at schools, to listen to their displays in the presence of the officials, which they produce on the spur of the moment with greater sureness than if they had been prepared.

§ 140  This powerful eloquence compels the officials to make good their names, but not to exceed them so far as to behave like despots. What does this mean? Where a senate is ignorant, even though it be very wealthy, and has no means of expressing itself, it is easy for it to offend the governors in some things, while in other matters it has to endure in silence. For men who are unable, by means of eloquence, to win their just due, are exposed to unjust treatment, and though they be a senate in name, they suffer like slaves.

§ 141  Among us the power of eloquence preserves the freedom of the senate in clear-cut fashion, and compels the administrators to appear in their tasks as what they are supposed to be, inciting sensible men to the discovery of what is best, and resisting the lawlessness of insolent men through the compelling power of wisdom, and through charm of rhetoric, so to speak, turning their hearts to gentleness. Thus our senators have come to possess a medicine which is stronger than the resources of the officials.

§ 142  The senate does not make its entrance into the presence of the officials tremblingly, but these men summon it discreetly, when they are about to make their decision, since they are among men who are not easily to be overmastered, but offer examples of this justice to men who are able to judge. And these senators fight it out when a just man has been slighted, but render due praise when he is successful. It is a great thing, for our way of life, for an official to have the reputation, with the senate, of being resolved to administer justice.

§ 143  In other cities, if the senators can check the vehemence of the governor, and are not themselves completely overwhelmed, they can think well of themselves; but among us, those governors who are of good repute consider that they have carried off the crown of virtue not when they have exerted their power over disobedient subjects, but when they have found praise among men with free spirits.

§ 144  Thus the senators, in their dealings with their superiors, I should not say, do not strive with each other, but do all this for the common good. Divided into three parts, they have entrusted the leadership in each matter to the best man, and the rest follow these generals who are skilled in laboring for the benefit of their sections.

§ 145  There is no question of some being allowed to speak while others are prevented from doing so, but license to speak is common to all, and all those present rejoice together with the man who utters some honest thing; youth speaks, and age is not angered, but quite the contrary, the old men request the young to speak and urge them on and bid them have courage, like eagles encouraging their young to fly.

§ 146  The whole body of the senate has achieved so much dignity that as soon as it appears, whatever it wishes is carried out by the governors. And to the man who grants their wishes, the greatest pleasure is to have granted them; for he knows that he is dealing nobly with men who are both honest and powerful in discourse, whose honesty compels them to remember the good will, while their eloquence makes it possible to praise it justly.

§ 147  Why indeed need one produce the governors as proof, when the emperors themselves hold this senate in respect both when it sends written communications and when it presents its arguments before the thrones? In these transactions the high-mindedness of the senate is exhibited to the ruler, and there has come to these men from the ruler, for their honor, rule over the provinces.

§ 148  The charm of their own city has constrained some of these men to serve in the senate, and those to whom this has happened are honored by two things, first by having been called to these duties, and then by having chosen them. For in the one respect they showed that they were fit for office, and in the other they showed that they considered it a greater thing to live in their native land and be ruled than to leave it and rule others.

§ 149  Thus they make it a pleasure, not a toil, to labor for their own city, and though receiving no relief from their burdens, they take pleasure in remaining with them, and some of them are honored by having avoided positions of authority, while others are honored by having ruled with the aid of the laws.

§ 150  Concerning the commons, what greater thing could one say than that the commons is worthy of the senate, and that neither is it fitting for the senate to be at the head of any other commons, nor for the commons to belong to any other senate among all that exist. Thus the one is the leader of worthy men, and the other follows the best men, like a skilful chorus with an excellent leader.

§ 151  In the first place each of them has a wife and child and all the possessions of a home. These things are powerful in teaching discretion and the love of quiet, just as those who do not possess them are prone to plunge into sharp disputes and snatch their swords and take pleasure in destruction, and whoever encounters misfortune pushes it off on someone else and runs away; many of these things are tolerated among the Egyptians and many of them in Italy, where some men make every word an excuse for an uproar, and others find their enjoyment when the senate falls into times of trouble.

§ 152  But with us, the commons emulates the conduct of children toward their parents, and the senate emulates the conduct of fathers toward the commons; the senate does not permit want to fall upon the commons, and the commons in return brings its good will as its equivalent of wages paid for nurture, grieving for the distresses of the senate, but rejoicing mightily in its good times, sharing each kind of fortune and considering that there is nothing of the senate's which is not its own, and paying the sweetest debt of children for the security of their leaders.

§ 153  One might perceive the character of the commons, if one scrutinized the disagreeable things which have come from them. For the things of which they could be accused would show their natural goodness, and the charge against them would amount to an encomium. Since we are a city, we must expect to suffer something from people who trouble the land; but the commons has been reproached for not hindering what occurs, not for having done something dreadful.

§ 154  Thus being by nature far removed from evil, the commons is honored as the chastener of evil-doers. What commons can approach ours in the matter of writing a covenant freely and keeping it faithfully? The sound of its voice is not given over to odious things, its gait is seemly, its robes are not slackly worn; it shows obedience toward its superiors and toward the well bred its manners are charming; it is polite in all things. In what other commons would one find these things? And to tell the truth, in what other senate, even, could one find such things? For that is how much our commons is superior to its name, and in the orderliness of its life it has progressed to a fairer station.

§ 155  It is so superior in benevolence that the customs which among other people are subject to neglect with respect to one's own family, are practised even toward strangers by this commons. For when certain citizens had been brought here from another place on accusations whose penalty was death, and were being taken away to execution, the commons burst into tears and crowded round the palace in supplication, and their pleas halted the boiling passion of the governor of the day.

§ 156  So they made their supplication because of their inclination toward pity, and he granted their request because they were worthy of such treatment; the cities possessed their citizens once more, the commons of Antioch had glory for having made their petition and for having been successful, and the governor had a fair name for having conquered his anger.

§ 157  It is not possible to describe the extent to which excellence is native with us. The city has implanted in us courage in adversity, along with attentiveness to military skill; but the reign of law has put the former to rest, and our natural character has kept a watch over the latter.

§ 158  For one thing, when the Persians came upon them, our ancestors did not think fit to save themselves by flight, but they held their ground, holding fast to their fatherland, more firmly than the Lacedaemonians did to their shields; and again when the usurper from Seleucia suddenly sprang up and fell upon us, the city held him in check, through the hands of the inhabitants, and these right hands, seizing the tools of the work-shops, disarmed the soldiers who were accustomed to live amidst blood and slaughter.

§ 159  Nothing actually forbids me to describe how that insurrection took place. Indeed, the excellence of the men who overcame it will thus be seen more plainly. There was a commander stationed at Seleucia with a troop of soldiers, deepening the entrance to the harbor. Perceiving that there were no soldiers stationed among us, and being put in a position of honor because of his labor about the port, and also being encouraged by the absence of any one to prevent him, he became enamored of the idea of setting himself up in power. And he did not delay, but put on the purple robe which was draped about the statue, and set to work.

§ 160  In their march they fell upon the fields and laid waste everything through which they went; and by late afternoon they reached the city, bringing tidings of their own deeds, which one could learn merely by seeing these men. For the people were not going to encounter a disciplined body of troops, but the most brutal attacks of armed men.

§ 161  Then as they saw the usurper hastening to the palace and seizing the property of the rulers, the people took the outrageous nature of what they saw as their summons to action, and did not think fit to wait for night to take counsel, but considered that their only plan was not to yield; and putting forward their breasts instead of shields, and crowbars instead of spears, and thinking that whatever came to hand was a sufficient weapon, they beat down this would-be imperial power the same day, bringing down the first comers with such weapons as they had, and then using these men's arms against the rest.

§ 162  And the women took part in the work, not merely with cries and weeping and stones hurled from roofs, as they did at Plataea, but going into hand to hand combat and tasting the line of battle and wounds, and confirming our belief in the story of the Amazons. And so some of the attackers were slain; others fled, and the rest were captured, and the insurrection did not last for a second day.

§ 163  Such was the city when dangers threatened it; and in its character it kept alive the brave deeds of our forefathers. Let us see now whether it preserved the other virtues of the Athenians, whom it received as fellow settlers.

§ 164  The greatest praise of them, indeed, is that they opened a common refuge to those who were deprived of their own lands, and strangers gathered toward Athens from all parts; but we, as Homer says, are far better than our fathers in this, for there is no city of which we have not received a part. Although we cannot say that we have received the greater number of its inhabitants from each city, nevertheless the people moving hither whom we have welcomed are not much fewer than those who remained in each place; some came from a desire for pleasant living, others for reasons of trade, others still in order to display their special skills, and others again to free themselves from poverty.

§ 165  Disdain for their own city, which seems small, brings some; others are brought by both love of and flight from climate, for they both flee from their own, and love ours. Thus the people who are left behind in each city, when they come to us to make a visit, go about among their own fellow citizens, so many of their own people does each of them encounter.

§ 166  Indeed, if a man had the idea of traveling all over the earth, not to see how the cities looked, but to learn their ways, our city would fulfill his purpose and save him his journeying. If he sits in our market place he will sample every city, there will be so many people from each place with whom he can talk.

§ 167  As for those who have chosen this city in preference to their own, it is not to be held against them that they live away from home, but those who have stayed behind envy them, and blame themselves for not having emigrated. Thus a common enjoyment of good things is available to this city. The foreigners cherish as their home the city which they have chosen instead of their homes, while the fellow citizens of these foreigners do not think it meet to gain an advantage over them, but the city loves the virtues of those who come to it exactly as it does the virtues of its own children, imitating the Athenians in this also.

§ 168  For just as they shared their leading men with the people of Pylos, and made use of the men of Pylos in their own highest offices, we too have done honor to foreigners in the greatest things, and have profited from foreigners, so that even now their families hold positions among the first.

§ 169  Since the migrations to us began in antiquity and have not ceased – and I think they will not cease – the city has naturally grown. And this has been the clearest mark of individuality in the city, that the task of numbering its inhabitants can be performed only by the Pythian oracle, by which, according to the saying, the sands are counted.

§ 170  It is so large and the whole of it covers so much territory that in each section it is equally thickly settled, whether you count over the regions outside the gates, or those just inside them, or the ones next to these, or whether you go to the center of the city and pass into the side streets and carry the search around into the farthest quarters, all of them are teeming with the same dense population; and the people who are going about in the midst of the city have all left the same number at home.

§ 171  The Athenians, in fear of the Lacedaemonian attack, left Athens and crowded into the country demes, and the only population of the city was the desert of the fields; but among us, though the country districts, as though empty, have drawn to themselves many of the city people, the city still is crowded, and thus it is the same in the market place through the whole day, so that here the phrase "when the market place is full" does not mean just one certain part of the day, though it certainly means one particular part of the day elsewhere; for no one time of the day can ever be called tranquil, but if you say that it is "full," you mean to indicate all times.

§ 172  Just as is the case with rivers, in which rocks rising in the middle do not break the flow of the stream, but the current flows on in one unbroken aspect, so here the density of the people walking about allows no bare spot to appear in their midst, so that a man standing up above them for the first time and gazing at them would think that there were some festivals outside the city, at every gate, and that according to some custom the city was being emptied for them, the inhabitants dividing up according to their wishes.

§ 173  In one respect only would one think that the city was unfortunate, namely that people who were in a hurry to go somewhere were impeded by the crowd which broke up those who came toward it, just as a ship is hindered in its course by the waves which press on to meet it.

§ 174  Those who see the thickness of the population but do not know the fertility of the earth, would be apprehensive as to the provisions necessary for so many people. But one who heard of the fertility of the soil but did not know of the size of the population, would be astonished at the number of people by whom so much nourishment was consumed. So well suited to the fertile soil is the multitude in our city, and so well suited to the multitude is the nature of the earth; and because of this nature we have never been compelled to dishonor Zeus Xenios through any harshness concerning strangers, even though we have the example of Rome, which, whenever any scarcity of the necessities of life occurs, turns this to abundance by driving out the foreigners.

§ 175  The earth has never driven us to such a remedy as this, nor is there a time when the city has deprived itself of its crowd of inhabitants in order to save the rest, keeping up its old custom, I think, of solving troubles for strangers, not creating them, since the time when this land brought back to sanity the son of Agamemnon, who had raged through all the rest of the world after the killing of his mother, pursued with all their might by the goddesses who punished the youth with madness. For when he went to the mountains there, the sickness was cured, and the place has come to bear the appropriate name.

§ 176  But I do not know how I have been carried away to this point by the pleasant tale concerning the son of Pelops; now the discourse must be brought back to the examination of the strength of this land, one sufficient sign of which is that it is adequate in every way for those who live in it, while another indication I shall now make plain.

§ 177  When this last Persian war was unchained, for which the Persian government had been preparing for a long time, and when the emergency called for adequate counter preparation to match the threat, and, even more than for preparations, called for a place capable of receiving all those things that such a war requires, this land of ours is the one that rose above the emergency with its abundance and collected the forces to its bosom and sent forth the entire army, when the time called.

§ 178  For there flowed to it, like rivers to the sea, all the soldiers, all the bowmen and horsemen and the horses, both those of the fighting men and those carrying burdens, and every camel and every band of soldiers, so that the ground was covered with men standing and men sitting; the walls were covered with shields hung up and spears and helmets were to be seen everywhere; everything resounded with hammering and noise and whinnying, and there were so many units stationed here that their officers alone would have added no small population to the city, or rather such a great army was gathered that in other places the drinking water would have been exhausted; but everyone received the soldiers as pleasantly as though they were caring for a kinsman who came for a visit after a long interval; and each one fared as well from the land as though behind each dwelling the area had been transformed automatically into the semblance of a cavern filled with provisions; and it was possible in this way for men to be nourished to satiety, so that it seemed that it was not human intention or labor which provided the foresight or the service, but as though the gods, as the power of gods is, prepared everything in unseen fashion.

§ 179  Wherefore the Persians blame us especially among their enemies because we provide this city as a base of operations which rivals the warlike prowess of the emperor, and we have nowhere diminished his eager courage by any deficiency of the help which we supply.

§ 180  Thus the city to the emperor, is like a loved one; when he is absent from it, it is as though from his native land, and he turns his mind back to it and he makes his return to it a matter serious enough to involve the taking of an oath, and he lightens his absence with letters, and undertakes war after war without pause, eagerly seeking, by means of his labors in the west, to have a sight of the east, and then by his labors in the east, to have a sight of our city. Indeed he has not gone elsewhere, except in so far as warfare had compelled him to, but in truth has spent the pleasantest part of his time here, taking his pleasure as though in the arms of a loved one.

§ 181  But now is it possible to admire the vigor of the city, as one would the strength of a man's body, and to find cast into neglect the matter of eloquence, which is rightly called the mind of a city? For indeed it is this which, when a city is large, makes it more revered, and if it does not happen to have become so large, at any rate puts it in a position to be admired.

§ 182  Just as, while everything else at Athens was brilliant – the war vessels, the sea battles, the rule over many people – the most important thing was the desire for knowledge, and honor of it, and acquisition of it, even so with us nothing is beyond being wondered at and everything is inferior to the love of knowledge.

§ 183  It seems to me that the god, when he divided the earth into two parts, did so with the desire to adorn each part equally and to preserve the balance, as though in a team of horses; so that he commanded Hermes to plant here seeds of eloquence which should not be inferior to those of Attica, and with his rod to incite men to the possession of this eloquence.

§ 184  Wherefore, just as in former times the fortunes of Greece were divided between two cities, Sparta and Athens, today the fair possessions of the Greeks are divided between two cities, ours and Athens – if indeed a man is to be called a Greek because of his eloquence rather than his birth.

§ 185  Indeed these two cities have held high the torch of eloquence, the one illuminating Europe, the other Asia. In the first place this city has had come to it such a splendid quality of students that, even if they are not to be considered worthy of the teaching here, they are at least worthy of that in Athens, so great is the force of some, and the youthful freshness of others.

§ 186  Thus swarms of young men more numerous than bees have come together here. And for another thing, no one goes away in disgrace, but when they have completed their studies sufficiently, some of them have remained, while others have gone away, the former bound by bonds of love toward the city which has given them the riches which they have acquired, while the latter bear home their intellectual accomplishments as salvation for their native cities. Again, the brilliance of those who have returned home impels others to the same initiation, and some send on their children, others their brothers, some their neighbors and others their friends, in a word, all their fellow citizens.

§ 187  You have indeed become the metropolis of Asia not so much by the exalted nature of your position as by the fact that the thing which is of all the most useful comes into the possession of all men here. For wherever you go and find a senate which is armed with eloquence, and speakers discoursing without blemish, you will find either that they were all trained in the schools here, or most of them, or in any case not a few.

§ 188  By means of their skill in the tribune and their services in lawsuits they arrive at the rank of judge, and we furnish the provincial people with the finest orators and judges, who, guiding the cities with their wisdom, gain one thing alone – namely the honor of being worthy of these tasks – and depart with empty hands, crowned with good repute. And you, perceiving these things, build shrines of the Muses with great lavishness, both for the education of young men and as a gift of honor for the goddesses, and you employ your fellow citizens as teachers and still are not jealous of strangers.

§ 189  And with your benevolence is mingled the exactness of our discipline in oratory; the fact that we furnish councils to all men shows our benevolence, and the fact that we give praise to those alone to whom it is fitting demonstrates the nature of our discipline.

§ 190  When they call, you join them; but when they make a mistake, you do not cover it up, but a weak thought and a botched figure and a spoiled phrase are at once detected. A common demonstration of the error rises from every side and it is impossible for a man who had been struck and transfixed in this fashion, if he looks toward any part of the auditorium, in ignorance of the nature of his audience, to quiet the uproar of the judgment; but wherever you look, an exact correction is provided.

§ 191  For aside from the education which is carried on among the citizens, there are three bands of rhetoricians, equal in number, which gather in the law courts, with their hearing no less whetted for judgment than their tongues are sharpened for speaking. Thus, no one is happier than when justice is pronounced here, while in unhappiness they are all second only to the man who is condemned. And indeed whoever enters these courts without trembling and fear does so, not because he is a brave man, but because he is ignorant, not knowing into what great danger he is coming.

§ 192  Thus from of old the use of eloquence has been deeply rooted here and it has gone forward through a uniform high development. Both those who come to these courts from outside, and those who are seized by them within the city are able to share the springs of eloquence, so that the belief now prevails that whoever comes to this land tastes the art and comes to have a share in rhetorical accomplishment, as though the earth gave forth the spirit of the Muses, just as in some other places it gives forth a prophetic spirit.

§ 193  It is not astonishing, then, if a city which is superior to others in every other respect, but in the practice of wisdom surpasses not only other cities but even itself, should make those who come to rule it into its lovers. For each one of these the beginning and middle and end of his tenure is directed toward the addition of some thing to the city. And indeed the men for whom it has been possible to make gifts, like those who set up the greatest offerings to the gods, spend the rest of their lives in happiness, possessing, in their intercourse with men, that which they consider the fairest thing of all; or rather they are able to say all the things which can make a man splendid, while even if they kept silent concerning everything else, they would be confident of being honored in this one respect, namely that oblivion would never overtake them, since their works stand in the fairest of all places under the sun.

§ 194  It is right that they should be confident. For the man who holds the most courts, showing the earnestness of his mind, has made his glory imperishable, just like those painters, I think, who dedicated the skill of their hands at Delphi. And it is not true that those governors who were able to do so with imperial funds, easily undertook additions to the city, while those to whom the expense would be personal shrank from it; but those who formed a part of the group which surrounded the emperor were more enamored of spending money than of making it, and collecting handsome stones from everywhere they sprinkled beautiful buildings about in the city so that they shone forth like stars; and becoming leaders in splendour, they had many followers who desired ever more brilliant effects.

§ 195  Here, the man who does not build a house, or take pleasure in those which he has, if he be very rich, is considered to be rich in vain; but the man who provides these things, counts himself among the fortunate even though he be in straits in other respects. Because of this the measure of the city does not stand still, but like the human body grows daily.

§ 196  And now it is the proper time to describe the situation and size of the city, for I think that there can be found none of those which now exist which possesses such size with such a fair situation. Beginning from the east it stretches out straight to the west, extending a double line of stoas. These are divided from each other by a street, open to the sky, which is paved over the whole of its width between the stoas.

§ 197  These are stretched out to such a length that merely to pave such a space would require a great force of men, while to go to the end from the beginning is a toil, which requires the help of horses; thus gently sloping and unbroken is it throughout, unchanged either by mountain streams or by steep slopes, or any other kind of difficulties, as in a picture in which the colors combine according to their natural values.

§ 198  Side streets begin from the stoas, some running to the north through the completely level area; the others, which run to the south toward the first slopes of the mountain, rise gently, extending the inhabited area to such a distance that it preserves harmony with the scheme of the remainder of the city but is not, by being raised too high, cut off from it.

§ 199  For the city did not, by crossing streams and ravines and including these within itself, and taking a little space in the very middle of the side of the mountain, place overhanging houses there, a source of alarm to those who dwell below, like the rock of Sisyphus; but by embracing only so much as permitted unbroken progress, it preserved the graceful proportions of the larger part of the city.

§ 200  The mountain rises up, stretched out beside the city like a shield raised high in defence, and the last dwellers upon the lower slopes of the mountain have nothing to fear from the heights, but they have the sources of every happiness, springs, plants, gardens, breezes, flowers, the songs of birds, and the enjoyment of spring earlier than the others have it.

§ 201  The stoas have the appearance of rivers which flow for the greatest distance through the city, while the side streets seem like canals drawn from them. Some of the side streets, which face toward the mountain, lead to the charms of the slopes; the others, which face the other way, lead to another street, which is unroofed but built upon on both sides, just like canals made for the cross passage from river to river. The former section ends in many places among charming gardens; the latter streets come to an end at the bank of the River Orontes.

§ 202  About in the middle of the right hand stoa of those which, as I have said, are stretched out from the east to the west and extend over as much length as would be sufficient for three cities, apses facing in all directions, with one roof of stone, form, as the beginning for other stoas which run toward the north as far as the river, the shrine of the Nymphs, which stands about the stoas, high as heaven and turning every eye with the dazzling light of its stones and the color of its columns and the gleam of its pictures and the wealth of its flowing waters. Side streets begin from these stoas just as from those [ of the main street] which I first described.

§ 203  Such then is the form of the old city. The new city stands on the island which the division of the river formed. Flowing from above in one stream, and keeping this form for the most part, it divided itself, and surrounding this place, made it an island. One of the streams flows between the two cities, while that on the other side of the new city proceeds, after having formed the island, to unite its course, and makes the river again the same as it was before it was parted.

§ 204  The form of this new city is round. It lies in the level part of the plain, the whole of it in an exact plan, and an unbroken wall surrounds it like a crown. From four arches which are joined to each other in the form of a rectangle, four pairs of stoas proceed as from an omphalos, stretched out toward each quarter of the heaven, as in a statue of the four-handed Apollo.

§ 205  Three of these pairs, running as far as the wall, are joined to its circuit, while the fourth is shorter but is the more beautiful just in proportion as it is shorter, since it runs toward the palace which begins hard by and serves as an approach to it.

§ 206  This palace occupies so much of the island that it constitutes a fourth part of the whole. It reaches to the middle of the island, which we have called an omphalos, and extends to the outer branch of the river, so that where the wall has columns instead of battlements, there is a view worthy of the emperor, with the river flowing below and the suburbs feasting the eyes on all sides.

§ 207  A person who wished to describe this part carefully would have to make it the subject of a discourse, but it cannot be a part of a discourse on another subject. Nevertheless, one should say at least that to the other palaces which exist in every part of the world, some of which are praised for their size and others for their beauty, it is in no way inferior; but it is far superior to many, nowhere surpassed in point of beauty, and in size surpassing all others, divided into so many chambers and stoas and halls that even those who are well accustomed to it become lost as they go from door to door. I believe that, if this palace stood by itself in some insignificant city, such as are numerous in Thrace, where a few huts form the cities, it would give the one that possessed it good reason to claim a proud position in the catalogue of cities.

§ 208  But I return to that point where I was saying that the river flowing between them separates the new from the old city. What is divided in this way is, however, united by five strong bridges. Thus the water makes our city two, but the bridges do not allow it to be two, joining the second to the older, like a colt to its mother.

§ 209  Let one consider, indeed, that if it is best for a city to be stretched out at length, our old city is built in this way; or if the circular plan is more fitting, the new city has this; or if it is itself a mark of greatness that the city is not all of one form, here if anywhere are all shapes of cities, so that a man who glories himself upon dwelling in a city which is uniform in shape on all four sides must realize that he takes pride in an insignificant thing.

§ 210  Just as in the case of farms, where a small plot of land can easily be elaborately adorned, like the works of painters, while the estates of the wealthy will not sustain this, but when they are intensively cultivated one part of them recedes into the background while another stands out in the foreground, even so, in the case of cities, the one which is wanting in size has a unified form, while that which is large develops according to circumstances.

§ 211  In speaking of size, I cannot omit to say that if to the length of the stoas which I first mentioned one were to join those which run from them to the river, thus making an addition to the length in one direction or the other; and if again, by adding to each other in the same way those of the new city so as to make them one, a person were to increase the first length by adding this one to it – if one put these together, or rather each thing would remain as it was, for one would calculate the change only in computation – one would find that the stoas occupy the space of a day's journey.

§ 212  As you go through these stoas, private houses are numerous, but everywhere public buildings find a place among private ones, both temples and baths, at such a distance from each other that each section of the city has them near at hand for use, and all of them have their entrances on the stoas.

§ 213  What then is my purpose in this? And the lengthening of my discourse, entirely about the stoas, to what will it bring us? It seems to me that one of the most pleasing things in cities, and I might add one of the most useful, is meetings and mixings with other people. That is indeed a city, where there is much of this.

§ 214  Truly, it is good to speak, and to hear is better and to converse is best, and to add what is fitting to the fortunes of one's friend's, rejoicing with them in some things, sorrowing with them in others, and to have the same return from them; and in addition to these there are ten thousand things in being near to one another.

§ 215  People who do not have stoas standing thus before their houses are scattered by the winter; and although they can be said to live in one city, they are actually separated from one another not less than those who live in different cities, and they learn news of those who dwell near them as they would of those who are living abroad. Indeed they are kept in their houses by rain and hail and snow and winds almost as though they were prisoners, and only the slaves, who have of old learned to endure hardship, dash off bent over to market. So when the weather clears up they greet and embrace one another like people arrived safe from a long voyage, having been forced to neglect with regard to one another many things which the law of friendship prescribes, but blaming, instead of themselves, the things by which they were hindered.

§ 216  With us, however, Zeus is not thus; he does not send sharp hail, or thick snow, or heavy rain, by which the even flow of association is broken up; while the year takes its changes from the seasons, association is not altered by any season, but the rain beats upon the roofs, and we, walking about in the stoas at our ease, sit together where we wish.

§ 217  Those who live at the far ends of the side streets are protected by eaves which project from the walls on each side of the street, and these bring them, safe from the rain, to the stoas. So, with other people, the habit of society is dulled in proportion to the distance by which they are separated; with us, friendship grows by the unceasing nature of our association, and here it increases in the same proportion that it declines elsewhere.

§ 218  Thus the stoas do not contribute to pleasure any more than they do to those things which are of the greatest importance among men; and to these stoas are added the hippodrome and the theatre and the bath, the one large enough to be filled with the running horses and to furnish seats to the multitude of the city, thanks to the abundance of the tiers, and the other reechoing and assisting it in giving pleasure, with the flute, the lyre, song, and the many forms of enjoyment which the stage provides.

§ 219  Who, in reviewing the different forms of places of assembly elsewhere, could find places such as we have, some made for the contests of athletes, others for those of men against wild beasts, and all these in the middle of the city, not forcing one to spoil one's pleasure beforehand by the length of the journey to them?

§ 220  But who could not admire the baths? Some are fitted for the winter, others designed for the summer: the former are sheltered from harsh winds, the latter seem as though they were built in high airy places and not connected with the earth.

§ 221  Of the houses, some are being built in the elaborate style of today, while those of former times avoid, with their moderate style, both display and the servility which it produces in others.

§ 222  If I must not be silent about that which comes next, it was Zephyros, I believe, who brought it about that the citizens in past times did not spend all their efforts on their homes. People who are not fortunately situated with regard to the breezes have to contrive by artificial means the pleasure which they get from them; but we, who enjoy the sweetest of breezes and have a good companion, as Homer says, in Zephyros, have no need of ingenuity, when the god himself gives the enjoyment to us.

§ 223  The Athenians had as an ally at sea Boreas, who gave them this gift, as the story goes, in compensation for the maiden whom he had carried off – and the gift that the son-in-law gave was not too temperate either. In our case, however, Zephyros does not benefit us after first having injured us, but he loves, not a maiden indeed, but the whole city, with undying love; and restraining himself in the winter because he knows that if he comes then he will grieve us, he arrives with the summer, to check the heat.

§ 224  He does not visit any other city before ours, nor does he pass through us to another city, but he both begins with us and ends with us, among people moved only to the contemplation of one beauty, whose eyes would not be diverted by the appearance of any other thing.

§ 225  He both flows about the whole city and leaves nothing untouched by his aid. He does not stream only into the mansions of the rich and into houses of three stories, and remain suspended above lower houses and those which belong to the poor, but just as in democracy there are equal rights with regard to the laws, so with us there is an equal share, so to speak, in the pleasures of the wind, and no one parched for the breeze has ever complained that it was because of his neighbors that he suffered thus. So the wind flows everywhere and slips through everything, and wherever it turns, there is a way open for it.

§ 226  Some people have come to be deprived of the rays of the sun because a house nearby casts its shadow on them; the wind, however, is prevented by nothing from giving pleasure everywhere, but it blows the tunics of those who walk about and twists around their legs, while the bedding arches about the bodies of those who sleep as the wind blows under it; thus the west wind makes night a double rest by adding the breeze to sleep.

§ 227  Thus it is not without reason that the city is always filled with building activity; some buildings are being torn down, some are half completed, and for still others the foundations have just been laid or are being excavated. Everywhere are the cries of those urging on the workmen, and ground that last year was planted with vegetables is built upon this year. Men know, indeed, that here they have, while still alive, all the things which the poets promise to the righteous dead.

§ 228  Let us only consider, indeed, how the city would have been four times the size it now is, if it had not already been stricken on three occasions. Just as the temple of Pythian Apollo has suffered many fortunes, and the present shrine, standing upon those which have disappeared, is the fourth, just in the same way our city, as a city of mortals, has been smitten, and as one dear to the gods has risen up, suffering and rising again even as the olive of Athena. For Xerxes destroyed it with fire, when he ravaged the acropolis of the Athenians, and on the second day a shoot rose up from the burned tree to the height of a cubit. This city likewise has been destroyed and renewed at the same time.

§ 229  Thus today, when you excavate in order to lay a foundation, everywhere you meet some trace of former times, and many people, using what has been preserved instead of what they intended to use, add their other material and build. So if some buildings had not been destroyed and others built on them, and if as much as is now used for rebuilding were employed instead for enlargements, many people would now be deprived of much land which is now under cultivation.

§ 230  But the city is not thus wonderful in every respect, with, at the same time, suburbs of such a nature that one thinks they ought to be better than they are, declaring, however, that this is the case precisely because they belong to a city such as this. Indeed they are large and populous towns, with greater population than not a few cities, using the services of artisans even as in towns and sharing their goods with one another by means of the festivals to which they invite the others and are invited, each one in turn summoning the others to it. They enjoy and take pleasure in the same things, and profit by sharing with others their surplus and gaining in return what they need, selling some things and buying others, more fortunate by far than those who trade by sea, since they earn their wealth with laughter and bustle instead of among the waves and breakers, needing few of the city's products because of the commerce among themselves.

§ 231  Let one count over also what lies outside the gates. He will not think fit to call these places merely collections of people, but will call them the tribes of the city, just as though they were a part of this city alone, for it is to such a degree as this that the regions outside the city are exactly suited to the tastes of one who admires what is inside, in luxury and baths and in the products of craftsmanship and in social intercourse. Thus, if one were to bring together into one form what is now divided into three, the part which is now before the city would be sufficient to be a city itself.

§ 232  Just as the district in front of the palace shares the grandeur within, even though it is itself inferior to what is within, and enables one to infer the greater by means of the lesser, thus a certain likeness has been passed out from the city to the regions before the walls, so that as you go out you feel that you are seeing on a smaller scale what you have left, and as you come into the city what is inside is foreshadowed by the things outside.

§ 233  All these suburbs are of the same form, but that towards the west, Herakleis, excels all possible appreciation just as it excels all other places. The only thing that is worthy of this is to see it, for if you heard the most glowing description of it you would not hear as much as is worthy of it.

§ 234  As soon as you pass through the gates, on the left are varied gardens and charming inns and an abundance of springs and houses hidden in trees and chambers which rise above the groves and luxurious baths, a place worthy of Aphrodite and her son the archer. As you go on you see on both sides of the road a wealth of vineyards and beautiful houses and rose gardens and plants of all sorts and streams; one thing draws you to it and another draws you away again, and it is through such pleasures that you come to the supremely beautiful Daphne.

§ 235  About this nothing worthy has yet been said, nor will it ever be said, unless, indeed, it should happen that the god himself with the Muses should sing of the place.

§ 237  The place is so helpful to the body that, if you leave after even a brief stay, you will go away healthier than when you came; and if you were asked by what you were most pleased, you would be at a loss for an answer, for it is to such a degree as this that every pleasure in Daphne rivals every other pleasure. No suffering is so powerful or so unconquerable or so long-standing that Daphne cannot drive it out, but as soon as you come to the place, the pain disappears. If the gods ever really leave heaven and come to earth, I believe they must come together and hold their councils here, since they could not spend their time in a fairer place.

§ 238  The things which I have described are not of such a number that the supremeness of the beauty destroys the wonder of it because of the small number of the objects which share the beauty, as for example in a place where there are only five houses, seven gardens, three hundred cypresses, and three baths; but these things in Daphne are fair as such things are nowhere else, and they surpass other things in number and size even more than in beauty.

§ 239  Indeed it [Daphne] possesses each of these things in such a number that the fact that it is spoken of merely in the class of a suburb is to the shame of a city which, if it wished to dispute with other cities, has so many things by which it may win, which has had also so many visitors from among the Romans, and has triumphed by convincing them that Italy can no longer boast of such things as though it were unsurpassed.

§ 240  The chief of the beauties of Daphne, and I think of the whole earth, are the springs of Daphne, for nowhere else has the earth made it possible either to see or to use such springs. These are the palaces of some Nymphs, and it is their gift that the waters are of the purest and clearest.

§ 241  One would say, indeed, that the goddesses do not take less pleasure in the place than Zeus does in Pisa or Poseidon in the Isthmus, Apollo in Delphi, or Hephaestus in Lemnos. And if one must believe that the Nymphs have their dwelling in waters, I believe they may visit other waters, but only to see them, and that this water, like kings, they have made to serve as their acropolis. I believe also that story that the three goddesses, when they held the contest of beauty, came hither to have the judgment, when they had bathed, rather than to the place where they are commonly said to have held the contest.

§ 242  Who, standing at the first outlets of the springs and gazing on the water flowing out and borne along both walls of the temple, could fail to admire the abundance of the water, to be struck with its beauty, to honor it as divine, and to take pleasure in touching it, greater pleasure in bathing in it, and the greatest pleasure of all in drinking it? It is cold and clear and most drinkable, and endowed with benefits and pleasant to apply to the body.

§ 243  The water has not remained at its source alone, nor did Daphne create it and Daphne enjoy it alone, keeping the gift with her, but she brought it to light and the city shares it with her who brought it to light, for the waters run from one of their homes to the other, and not from a foreign origin, in which case there would be much trouble and much danger if the benefit were received from the kindness of others; but contriving a covered road for the stream through the lower slopes of the mountain, in some places hollowing out the slopes, in others building additions, and in some places carrying the way in the air over bridges, where the cliffs make this necessary, men bring to the town the abundance from the suburbs.

§ 244  Indeed the thing by which especially we are supreme is the fact that our city has water flowing all through it, for even though one were to behave insolently toward us in respect to other things, nevertheless all must yield when the waters are mentioned. We surpass the beautiful waters of other cities by the abundance of ours, and the abundant waters of other cities by the beauty of ours, or rather we surpass the inexhaustible waters of other cities by the abundance of ours, and the pleasing waters of other cities by the beauty of ours. Each of the public baths pours forth a stream as large as a river; some of the private baths have as great a stream as these, and the others are not far behind them.

§ 245  Whoever has the means to erect a bath on the site of earlier ones does so the more confidently because of these streams, and he does not fear that it may be brought to the point of perfection and then called thirsty because of deficiency of water; but it is so far from being the case that one is deterred from the undertaking by lack of water, that a person who has not a great impulse will be incited by the waters themselves. Wherefore all the tribes of the city pride themselves on the particular adornments of their baths more than on their very names. These baths are finer than the public baths just in proportion as they are smaller, and there is much contention among the members of the various tribes that each of their tribes possesses the finest bath.

§ 246  One can judge the wealth of our waters by the number of the houses, since there are as many fountains as there are houses, or rather there are many fountains in each house, and indeed the majority of the shops are also adorned in this way.

§ 247  Wherefore we do not wrestle and box about the public fountains to see who shall draw water before the next person, although this troubles many of the wealthy cities, whose citizens have much pushing about the fountains and complaints about broken jars, and blows in addition to torrents of words. But with us, since everyone has water flowing within his house, the public fountains flow merely for display.

§ 248  The clearness of our water you can test easily if you will fill a pool and then stop the water from running into it. The bottom will be covered by the water so transparently that you will think that the pool is empty. Thus I know not whether the sight is more able to set fire to thirst or to put an end to it, for it both invites one to drink and cheers one before he drinks.

§ 249  But the things about which you are wont to engage in friendly rivalry make your contest futile because it is equal on all sides, for it is to such a degree as this that you, who clearly surpass all others, remain, with respect to each other, on equal terms.

§ 250  Those, for example, who live in the eastern portion of the city say that the greatest part of the wheat is brought through their quarter, and at the same time they bring forward the spring of Alexander. Those who live in the western quarter boast of the wealth of trees and the greater cleanliness, and of that pleasantest of neighbors, Daphne, while those who live on the slope of the mountain boast of the finer breezes and the peacefulness and the view over the whole city. Those who live in the new city boast of the wall, the island, the palace, and the symmetry of the whole, while those who live in the middle of all these boast of being in the middle. Who, hearing these things, could make a choice when all of them, one after the other, are so equally matched?

§ 251  But may none of the gods ever take away from us this rivalry which is caused by the fact that the advantage lies with each of us. What is more inexhaustible, more lasting, than the wealth of goods which we have for sale? These are so distributed through the whole city that no one part of the city can be called the market; neither must those who wish to buy things come together in any one place, but the goods are right before everyone, before their very doors, and everywhere it is possible for one simply to stretch out his hand in order to take what he wishes.

§ 252  One cannot find any street so despised or so remote that it sends elsewhere, lacking something of what they need, those who dwell in it, but the middle of the town and the furthest quarters are equally well supplied, and they are all as full of goods for sale as they are of people.

§ 253  Many of these goods one has often passed by, not needing them, but for things which he needed, no one has ever sought in vain. Things contrived for enjoyment vie with necessities, and there is a place in the city for both conditions of fortune. It both protects poverty and gratifies the desires of the wealthy, furnishing delicacies for the enjoyment of the latter, and for the former providing things fitted to their needs. Thus it does not fall short of the requirements of the one class and is not superior to the needs of the other. The finest thing of all is that with its care it shelters poverty in many ways, and does not merely grant the means of getting a bare existence, but adds the means of doing so enjoyably.

§ 254  One may understand the superiority of our trade from the following circumstance. The cities which we know pride themselves especially on their wealth exhibit only one row of goods for sale, that which lies before the buildings, but between the columns of the stoas no one works; with us, however, even these spaces are turned into shops, so that there is a workshop facing almost each one of the buildings. These are wooden huts, with brush-wood for the roofs, and no space is without some handicraft; but if a man gets possession of a little strip of space, it at once becomes a tailor's shop or something of that order, and people cling to such places as they would to ropes, like Odysseus to the wild fig tree.

§ 255  Although the supply of things for sale is brilliant, it is even more of a subject for wonder because it is inexhaustible, so that those who make their purchases in the early morning get nothing more than those who buy in the evening, but just as you find the water always the same when you need it, the markets are always the same for your enjoyment, and nightfall does not cut short the height of the activity, but there is a greater din in our city than there is among the Ethiopians.

§ 256  They, as the god approaches, offer what they call the table of the sun, filled with meat; and although the work is that of those in authority, who set the meat upon the table at night, they pretend that this is the offering which the earth makes itself. With us, the time when the goods are prepared is unknown, for they are seen only in their final perfection, and the day claims no advantage over the night, but all things remain in equal abundance in both.

§ 257  Thus the travelers who draw near when it has grown dark in the last stage of their journey push on to the city in good spirits, since they know they will fare well here even at night. It is possible for them both to bathe and to dine more magnificently than men invited to feasts of victory after games, just as if the cooks had been sent ahead to make preparations.

§ 258  Everything is at once available, and it is not necessary to hurry about in search of fish, but only to listen for the peddlers as they shout. Indeed, we who live on land enjoy more fish than many of those who are tossed about on the ocean, and although we are separated from the sea, the fishermen catch for us in their nets the creatures of the sea, and crowds of fishes of all kinds come into them every day.

§ 259  Another fine thing here is that the needy are not deprived of this kind of food. Tyche, who has distributed fitting things to each man, has given to the wealthy the products of the sea, to the others those of the lake, and to both in common has given the river, which nourishes for the wealthy the kind of fish which comes up to it from the sea, and for the others the other kinds, all of them in abundance.

§ 260  The profit to the city from the river and the lake is not simply so much as to adorn its table, but they bring to the city as many things as the earth gives, making the movement of them easy and not restricting the carrying of the crops so that it is limited to beasts of burden. They divide the country between them, and the one, which flows through the parts which have not the lake as an ally, and the other, which extends before those parts which the river does not assist, between them, with the sailors of the lake and those of the river, empty the fields into the city.

§ 261  At first they bring the goods separately; then the river takes the place of both, receiving, along with its own products, what is carried through the lake, and bringing these to the very center of the city. It delivers the cargoes to each person before the gates, so that it is possible for the women and children to unload the freight. Here we have the opposite of what happens in Thesprotia, for there the river flows into the lake, while here the river receives the lake.

§ 262  What is of the greatest importance, however, is that the river, as it flows to the sea after leaving the city, is not impassable to ships because of rocks, which has often happened to the Nile, nor is this part of the stream useless to us, but it is worthy of Pindar's praise of the Hipparis of Camarina, which "swiftly weldeth together a soaring forest of steadfast dwellings," furnishing the means of transportation through itself for the varieties of wood which are brought from everywhere.

§ 263  In speaking of the outlet of the river into the sea I am impelled to mention the harbor. When he saw that this did not rank among those to which it rightfully belonged, the ruler was troubled and changed its form, and there was cut out in Seleucia, but for the benefit of our city, a harbor hewn from the rock at a cost of as much gold as the Pactolus did not treasure up for Croesus.

§ 264  Wherefore all ships put to sea from all parts of the world, carrying goods from everywhere, from Libya, from Europe, from Asia, from the islands and the coasts, and the best of what is best everywhere is brought here, since the quickness of selling draws hither the wits of merchants, and because of this we enjoy the fruits of the whole earth. Among harbors, this has furled the most of the sails that are spread over the seas.

§ 265  Is it then surprising that we, who inhabit such a country and enjoy such a trading place, who have as an ally the lake, and have the highway of the river as a helper, is it surprising that we adorn the city as though for a festal assembly?

§ 266  Where else, indeed, is there a holiday for as many of the whole population as there is here for so many of the people all of the time? Who, seeing the city for the first time, would not think he had come to a festival? Who is so downcast by nature that our city would not turn his soul to gladness? Where else is there such a great stream of pleasures? What occasion for enjoyment is there that we do not have? Have we not mildness of the air, pleasure of the baths, brilliance of trade? . . . steadily grants? Have we not a spring glistening with flowers, and a summer flashing like lightning with the colors of the fruit trees, making the town a meadow with their scents? Is it not sweeter to walk among the goods offered for sale than to go through the midst of gardens, and is it not pleasanter to meet in the market squares than to pass one's time at home? Is not the very throng which flows through the city sufficient for the pleasure of a spectacle? Among us is not Homer's praise of Sleep refuted as excessive?

§ 267  Here he is not "lord of men," neither does he draw men to himself against their will, or lull them to rest by force, but we alone of all people have shaken off his tyranny over our eyelids, and to the torch of the sun there succeeded other torches which surpass the festival of the lamps in Egypt, and among us night differs from day only in the kind of the light. Night is the same as day for the handicrafts, and some work vigorously while others laugh gently and give themselves up to song. The night is shared indeed by Hephaestus and Aphrodite, for some work at the forge and others dance; but in other cities Endymion is more honored.

§ 268  To what kinds of men does not the city bring profit? Is there not here an easy way to wealth for those who seek it, and to fame for those who possess learning, and to the acquisition of learning for those who desire it? Is it not good for earnest work and at the same time designed for pleasure? Have we not chariot races free from factional strife? Are there not the delights of the stage? Are not such pleasures here the match of cares? Has not the solemn festival of the Eleans come over to us and have we not excelled the founders of the Olympic games by the honor which we show to Zeus?

§ 269  It has come to pass, indeed, that an emperor presented this festival, and putting off his own robe wore the Olympic robe, while another emperor appeared as hellanodikes and wore the crown of laurel; the two both honored the rites and were themselves honored by them. If their festival brings some importance to the Eleans, who in other respects do not stand in the first rank among peoples, what then shall we think of our festival when, along with our other good fortune, we are supreme also in the magnificence of the Olympics?

§ 270  What city can we say is worthy to be compared with this? More fortunate than the oldest, it is superior to some in size, surpasses others in the nobility of its lineage, and others in its all-producing territory. By one it may be excelled in walls, but it is greater than this in the abundance of its water and in the mildness of its winter, in the refinement of its inhabitants and in its pursuit of learning; and it is more fair than that city which is even larger, because of that fairest thing, Hellenic education and literature.

§ 271  Finally you will find small cities, and some even among large ones, which are not in the favor of Aphrodite. Here the goddess mother of Eros has poured down because of the size of the city, and if you leave this city and go elsewhere, you will remember this one, and if you come here from another, you will forget what has gone before. Wherefore it is right to forgive those who under the spell of the charms which exist in the city disdain their parents and their homes, for they have seen that this city is like no other, and they know that they will come to nothing else like it.

§ 272  My debt to my native city has been discharged, a payment not inferior to my power, but far below what I would wish to make it. For the future I might say with confidence that some may perhaps surpass this discourse of one of its citizens, but no one will ever make one that will be worthy of the city.